Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

*No heading*

the countess of mar: Her Majesty's Government why products are not required to carry labels which indicate exactly what flame retardant materials they contain, including those materials which were permitted at the time of production but have since been banned, in order to (1) enable people to avoid those products if they so wish, and (2) ensure that people are aware that it may not be possible to recycle or sell on those products.

lord prior of brampton: Product safety legislation requires products to be safe when they are placed on the market. It does not specifically require products to be labelled with information about fire retardant material used in the products.The Government is currently reviewing the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. One of the proposals under consideration is specific labelling to show the presence of fire retardant chemicals to help inform consumers and to aid consumer choice. A consultation on this issue was held in late 2016. The responses to the consultation will help to inform our decisions on this question and will be included in the Government response, to be issued in due course.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Northern Ireland Office

UK Trade with EU

lord laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the concept of parity of esteem as outlined in the Belfast Agreement 1998 applies to security service personnel who have a residence outside Northern Ireland but who have been resident in Northern Ireland for a period in the past.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potential effects on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potentialimpact on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they intend that UK exporters will continue to have access to the Excise, Movement and Control System following Brexit; and if not, what system they intend to introduce to replace it.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potential effects on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potentialimpact on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord bates: As negotiations on the terms of the UK’s exit from and future relationship with the EU have only just begun, no decisions or evaluations have been made about the continuing use of the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS). HMRC are engaging closely with UK businesses and will consider any concerns they raise.

Department for International Development

*No heading*

lord judd: Her Majesty's Government what role they are seeking for UNESCO in the battle for hearts and minds, in the cause of defeating terrorism and building world security.

lord bates: UNESCO’s mandate is to coordinate international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication to strengthen ties between nations and societies, including freedom of expression, universal respect for human rights and global citizenship. It is committed to developing more inclusive and prosperous societies, which are also more resilient to the poisonous ideologies of extremism. UNESCO has delivered some good work in the area of education and extremism, including a useful Teacher’s Guide on Preventing Violent Extremism. We will be pushing UNESCO to ensure its advice is informed by evidence and that any activities they implement in this area are rigorously evaluated to assess what works.

Department for Education

*No heading*

lord adonis: Her Majesty's Government what advice they, or their agencies, give to universities on the appropriate remuneration of vice-chancellors.

viscount younger of leckie: Universities are autonomous bodies and it is for them to determine pay arrangements for their staff. However, the Government, in the 2017/18 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant letter stated: “The Government is clear that efficiency includes demonstrating restraint in senior pay and remains concerned about the substantial upwards drift in salaries of some top management. We would like to see senior leaders in the sector exercise more pay restraint.” Jo Johnson, the Minister for Universities and Science, has continued to call on the sector to show restraint in Vice Chancellors' pay and for the sector to demonstrate more leadership especially at a time when students are concerned about value for money.

*No heading*

lord adonis: Her Majesty's Government whether, in the past 12 months, they, or their agencies, have advised any university, or universities, that proposed fee levels were unacceptably high; and if so, what that advice was.

viscount younger of leckie: The government does not assess the fees of individual institutions. It sets maximum fees for eligible students in legislation. Only those institutions with an access agreement in place for widening participation with the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) can charge fees up to a highest cap.

Ministry of Defence

*No heading*

marquess of lothian: Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make cuts to the RAF Sentinel R1 fleet before 2021; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such cuts upon the UK’s surveillance and terrain mapping ability, particularly within the context of the UK’s NATO commitments.

earl howe: The original out of service date for the Sentinel fleet has been extended from 2018 to 2021. The UK will continue to provide NATO with high-end capability where required to by the Alliance. We remain actively engaged in understanding and responding to NATO's evolving future capability requirements, incorporating these into national plans.

Home Office

*No heading*

lord ahmed: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent acid attacks on Muslims in England and what advice they have provided to the police in relation to these attacks.

baroness williams of trafford: Attacks on people involving acids or other corrosives are a serious matter that can result in huge distress and life changing injuries. We are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead to better understand the nature and scale of these crimes. On 4 July we hosted a joint event bringing together a range of partners including police, retailers, health professionals, relevant departments and agencies to agree what further action can be taken to prevent these kinds of attacks.

*No heading*

lord eames: Her Majesty's Government what is the numerical strength of the Border Force in Northern Ireland; and whether they have plans to increase that strength in the near future.

baroness williams of trafford: This Government has ensured that sufficient resources are available to ensure the security of the border is not compromised. Security of the border cannot be measured by numbers of staff. Border Force uses a sophisticated combination of experienced officers, intelligence, data, technology and partnership working. Border Force resources within Northern Ireland are reviewed on a regular basis as part of the wider Border Force business planning process which is led by the Director General of Border Force.

*No heading*

the lord bishop of southwark: Her Majesty's Government how many Iraqi refugees they have resettled since 2014 under (1) the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), and (2) other global resettlement schemes such as Gateway and Mandate.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Government has committed to resettling to the UK up to 3,000 individuals under the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS). Data on the number of people who have been resettled under this scheme will be published in future releases of the Home Office’s immigration quarterly statistics. Latest statistics published on 25 May confirmed that a total of 360 Iraqis have been resettled to the UK under the Gateway scheme, and 18 under the Mandate scheme, during the period 1 January 2014 until 31 March 2017.

*No heading*

lord black of brentwood: Her Majesty's Government how many incidents of the shooting of cats by airguns were reported to the police in (1) 2015, and (2) 2016; and how many of those incidents related to fatal shootings.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office holds information on the number of offences recorded by the police that involved an air gun. The shooting of cats by an air gun cannot be separately identified within this information.

*No heading*

lord rosser: Her Majesty's Government how much lower the EU net migration figure would have been for each of the last five years if EU nationals had been removed from the UK under Article 14(4)(b) of Directive 2004/38 through applying terms of that article in as strict a manner as allowed for under that directive.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government does not hold specific data on the number of EU nationals who may not be exercising Treaty rights as a jobseeker at any one time. Therefore the Government has not tried to predict the impact on migration figures in line with the hypothetical scenario described.

HM Treasury

*No heading*

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they intend that UK exporters will continue to have access to the Excise, Movement and Control System following Brexit; and if not, what system they intend to introduce to replace it.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they intend that UK exporters will continue to have access to the Excise, Movement and Control System following Brexit; and if not, what system they intend to introduce to replace it.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potential effects on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potentialimpact on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potential effects on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they have evaluated the potentialimpact on small businesses of losing access to the Excise, Movement and Control System.

lord bates: As negotiations on the terms of the UK’s exit from and future relationship with the EU have only just begun, no decisions or evaluations have been made about the continuing use of the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS). HMRC are engaging closely with UK businesses and will consider any concerns they raise.

Cabinet Office

*No heading*

lord truscott: Her Majesty's Government how they plan to ensure that critical national infrastructure is protected to safeguard national security post-Brexit.

lord young of cookham: The security and resilience of UK Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is a key priority for the Government. The 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review said that the Government will work with infrastructure owners and operators to mitigate risks to our CNI, and committed Government to ensure the right regulatory framework is in place to ensure our CNI is resilient to future threats.Along with Lead Government Departments, the Cabinet Office is reviewing the resilience implications of leaving the EU. This will involve close collaboration with the Department for Exiting the European Union, which is working with all departments to ensure our preparations for exit are on track.Matters of national security are often handled bilaterally, and we do not anticipate this changing after leaving the European Union. We will continue to strengthen and grow our close relationships with the CNI community in Ireland and across Europe, as well as our partners in NATO.Each year the Government publishes a short public summary of the detailed plans being taken forward by Lead Departments to tackle threats to critical infrastructure. The 2016 summary can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/568546/sector_security_resilience_plans_14_11_2016.pdf

Department of Health

*No heading*

lord lester of herne hill: Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce legislation to repeal (1) sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and (2) section 25 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Act as amended; and, if not, why not.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government has no plans to repeal sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs. Traditionally any proposals for legislative change are a matter for backbenchers to bring forward and there is a free vote in both Houses of Parliament. There are no plans to repeal section 25 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Act. The law on abortion in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.

*No heading*

lord cotter: Her Majesty's Government what action they will take in response to claims that hospital patients are paying 50p a minute to make telephone calls.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Department is not party to the contracts made with any of the companies that provide the bedside telephone service to patients and it has not made an assessment of the contingency arrangements National Health Service trusts have in place, should their service provider be unable to fulfil its contractual obligations. Therefore it has no authority to impose any price changes on the suppliers of the services.Patients can use their mobile phones as an alternative in specified areas of the hospital and payphones should be available as an alternative.It is the responsibility of the NHS trust to consider contingency arrangements, should it wish to continue to provide this service to its patients. The telephone company contracts are made between individual NHS trusts and their chosen suppliers. Trusts do, in fact, have the ability to renegotiate their terms.The bedside telephone is an additional service to that which existed in the past so alternatives already exist in hospitals. It is still possible for relatives and friends to contact a hospital via its main switchboard, and then be transferred to the nurses’ station on a ward to enquire about their relative’s health, as they have always been able to do in the past.

*No heading*

lord cotter: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they havemade of the extent to whichparity of esteem between the treatment of mental health and physical health is applied across the NHS.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government set out parity of esteem in physical and mental health in law in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Government also set up the first waiting times for mental health – to improve access to psychological therapies and early intervention in psychosis, we have also introduced a waiting time for General Practitioners, reflecting commitments which had existed in physical health for some time. The Government further retained this commitment by welcoming the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report in February 2016. The report set out a strategy for change in four key areas to drive forward improvements in mental health: promoting good mental health and helping people lead the lives they want to live, integrating care, creating a seven-day National Health Service for mental health and hard-wiring mental health across health and social care. The Government accepted all the report’s recommendations in January 2017 and published a detailed action plan for taking forward the recommendations, including how we will monitor progress and report transparently. NHS England’s implementation plan for the Five Year Forward View, published in July 2016, also set out a robust plan for delivering the commitments set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

*No heading*

lord harrison: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefit of playing chess and bridge for (1) older people, (2) those with mental health problems and (3) children.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government has made no assessment of the benefit of playing chess and bridge for older people, those with mental health problems or children.

*No heading*

lord hunt of kings heath: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the rise in indemnity costs, resulting from the change in the discount rate on personal injury payouts, on the incentives for doctors to practise in general practice.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Department is aware that the rising cost of indemnity is an area of concern for general practitioners (GPs). In July 2016 NHS England published a GP Indemnity review which gathered evidence from GPs about the impact on rising costs of indemnity, which found that: - 95% of GPs surveyed have experienced a rise in their indemnity costs in the recent years;- four fifths of GPs responded that they had been deterred in some way from taking certain types of clinical sessions due to the rise in their indemnity costs; and- GPs told us that that if indemnity costs continue to rise at recent rates, this may act as a break on the willingness of GPs to join the profession, to remain in the profession, or to increase their workload.In recognition of the rising costs of indemnity, NHS England put an extra £30 million in to the GP contract in March 2017 to cover indemnity-related inflation for GPs from 2016-17. A further sum of approximately £30 million will be made available for April 2018. The change in the personal injury discount rate announced by the former Lord Chancellor (Elizabeth Truss MP) in February 2017 has significantly increased the cost of claims. The Department is working closely with GPs and Medical Defence Organisations to ensure that appropriate funding is available to meet additional costs to GPs, recognising the crucial role they play in the delivery of National Health Service care.

*No heading*

lord hunt of kings heath: Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide financial support to general practitioners to meet the increase in indemnity costs as a result of the change to the discount rate on personal injury payouts.

lord o'shaughnessy: The cost of indemnity to general practitioners (GPs) is already recognised as a business expense, and reflected in the sums received by GP practices via the GP contract. In recognition of the rising costs of indemnity, NHS England put an extra £30 million in to the GP contract in March 2017 to cover indemnity-related inflation for GP’s from 2016-17. A further sum of approximately £30 million will be made available for April 2018. The change in the personal injury discount rate announced by the former Lord Chancellor (Elizabeth Truss MP) in February 2017 has significantly increased the cost of claims. The Department is working closely with GPs and Medical Defence Organisations to ensure that appropriate funding is available to meet additional costs to GPs, recognising the crucial role they play in the delivery of National Health Service care.